24 Hours in Brighton

1) BT Coffee: Start the day with a take-away coffee from the Red Box Coffee – the brainchild of a local businessman who has taken over the phone boxes under BT’s Adopt a Kiosk scheme. The scheme allows local charities and community groups to buy underused red phone boxes from the company for just £1. The two phone boxes near Brighton’s Pavilion Gardens have been transformed into cafes supplying locals and tourists with coffee and ice cream.

2) Vintage Looting: Arguably Britain’s vintage capital, an amble around the four main streets surrounding The Lanes is a must. If you only go to one vintage shop, then head to Snoopers Paradise on North Laine. An emporium of all things antique and full of bargains. Open Monday to Saturday 10am – 6pm and Sundays 11am – 4pm.

3) Paint the Town Pink: You can’t beat the nightlife, sea-front night clubs and bars in Brighton. I feel a bit old for all that these days, but gigs are different, everyone loves live music, don’t they? Especially when you’re surrounded by a costal town such as this. To make the most of your 24 hours, do what we did, and plan your stay around a band performance of your choice. To find out what’s on go to http://www.visitbrighton.com/whats-on

4) Ferris Wheel: This was £8 per person. For this you receive a 15-minute ‘flight’ and a minimum of 3 revolutions. There’s a commentary from Steve Coogan as you go around – hilarious, but how dare he moonlight in Brighton – Norwich is where he belongs.

Above: Scared on the outside, laughing manically on the inside5) Hit the Beach like this lovely couple: Visit the arcades on Brighton Pier, go for a dip and hire these spiffing stripy deckchairs for £2 per person, per day.

6) Food for Friends ‘Brighton’s original vegetarian restaurant’: you must, you must, you must try this absolutely terrific award-winning vegetarian restaurant, which uses locally sourced ingredients and cater for vegans and gluten free diets. Even if you’re not veggie – you must go. You must. They’re magicians at transforming humble vegetables into first-class dining. We went for the £19.99 3-course set lunch menu:

We shared the Duo of sweet tofu pockets stuffed with shitake rice and pine nuts and the second with butternut squash, tofu and miso rice, served with pickled ginger, wakame and a sesame mirin dressing.

For main, I had the Coconut curry with fried aubergine, courgettes and garden peas with split pea and sesame dumplings, spiced rice and a crunch fresh papaya, mango and cashew salad.

We shared the pud – the Deconstructed Passion Fruit Cheesecake. With our lunch, I had a large glass of Sauvignon Blanc and our bill came to £40 including service. For more go to foodforfriends.com/menus/lunch-menu